WND

IRS online filing system crashes ... on deadline day

'I was told a number of systems are down'

“A number” of systems used by the Internal Revenue Service that allow taxpayers to file required forms and payments crashed – on the day that those documents were due.

A Fox affiliate in Denver, KDVR, reported the IRS said in a statement, “Currently, certain IRS systems are experiencing technical difficulties. Taxpayers should continue filing their tax returns as they normally would.”

The Washington Post quoted IRS Acting Commissioner David Kautter, who was talking with lawmakers at an IRS oversight hearing Tuesday, “On my way over here this morning, I was told a number of systems are down at the moment. We are working to resolve the issue…”

CNBC reported that one of the operations that was out of order was the “Direct Pay” process, which lets Americans pay their taxes with funds in a checking or savings account.

The deadline for filing – and paying – taxes is midnight.

It normally is midnight on April 15, but with that day on a weekend, and the following Monday a holiday in Washington, the deadline was extended until the 17th.

The Post reported Kautter wasn’t able to confirm it would be fixed right away.

“If we can’t solve it today we’ll figure out a solution. Taxpayers would not be penalized because of a technical problem the IRS is having,” he said.

Kautter said, according to the Post, the agency was struggling to accept returns from a variety of commercial programs like TurboTax, as well as from tax preparers like H&R Block.